Paris Masters tournament director Cedric Pioline has admitted that event organisers are in talks over how they can make the “geopolitics” of the tour easier for players.
He was speaking in reference to Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from the Paris Masters, with the Italian citing a virus.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has also complained about being ill this week. Players have generally raised concerns about their gruelling schedules depleting their fitness.
“It’s not up to me to judge: each player, including Jannik, organises his season as he sees fit,” said Pioline.
“We can even say that in general, Jannik is one of those who has a logical schedule, he doesn’t overload his calendar. So he was rather confident.
“As high-level athletes, they are fragile from an immune point of view at the end of the season, there are little things that hang around and that we can catch. Is it bad luck? Probably
“The geopolitics of the circuit with a lot of things [is something] currently under discussion at the level of the Grand Slams, the ATP and the WTA.
“Today, we don’t have an answer but from my point of view, it is certain that we must be vigilant so that there is coherence.
“The money put on the table by this Saudi exhibition is something disruptive, which destabilizes the ecosystem in place and is not necessarily very healthy.”